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PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE TO FILE ID 15-1216
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
Sponsored by: TONI PRECKWINKLE, President, and STANLEY MOORE, JES?S G. GARC?A, LARRY SUFFREDIN, DEBORAH SIMS, BRIDGET GAINER, ROBERT STEELE, LUIS ARROYO JR, RICHARD R. BOYKIN, GREGG GOSLIN, JOAN PATRICIA MURPHY and JERRY BUTLER, County Commissioners
URGING THE ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO RESTORE JUDICIAL DISCRETION IN THE TRANSFER OF JUVENILES TO ADULT COURT
WHEREAS, the nation's first juvenile court was created in Cook County 115 years ago based on the understanding that children should be treated differently than adults; and
WHEREAS, scientific research has proven that the adolescent brain is not fully developed in the areas that regulate rational decision making and impulse control; and
WHEREAS, 705 ILCS 405/5-130 of the Juvenile Court Act, mandates that youth predominantly 15 and older, but in some cases as young as 13, automatically be tried as adults, in adult court, facing adult sentences, based solely on the original charge ("Automatic Transfer"); and
WHEREAS, the Illinois General Assembly enacted Automatic Transfer in 1982 in response to no longer relevant concerns about the potential increase of juvenile crime. Since that time, the policy has resulted in thousands of youths being tried as adults without a hearing before a juvenile court judge; and
WHEREAS, according to analysis by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice there is no correlation between the transferring of juveniles to adult court and the drop in youth violence across the country; and
WHEREAS, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has stated that the "bulk of the empirical evidence suggests that [juvenile] transfer laws have little or no general deterrent effect;" and
WHEREAS, Illinois is one of only 14 states that do not require a hearing in front of a juvenile court judge before a child is transferred to adult court; and
WHEREAS, according to a study by the Illinois ...
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